Document feeding, image reading, and image forming apparatus including slidable document supports with one constituting part of an upper surface of the apparatus

ABSTRACT

A document supporting portion includes a first supporting portion and a second supporting portion. The first supporting portion has a first supporting surface that supports a document. The second supporting portion has a second supporting surface that supports the document together with the first supporting surface and provided so as to be slidable between a first position at which the second supporting portion located above the first supporting portion and a second position at which the second supporting surface supports the document together with the first supporting surface. In a state where the second supporting portion is located at the first position, the second supporting surface constitutes a portion of an upper surface of the document feeding apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a document feeding apparatus that feedsa document, an image reading apparatus that reads an image on adocument, and an image forming apparatus including such an image readingapparatus.

Description of the Related Art

As an image reading apparatus, an apparatus including an automaticdocument feeding apparatus (ADF) that automatically conveys a documentto an image reading unit that reads an image on the document has beenconventionally known. In the conventional ADF, a configuration is knownin which a document tray on which a document to be fed to an imagereading unit is mounted is pivotable between a closed position where adocument placing surface faces downward and an open position where thedocument placing surface faces upward (for example, US2016/0057300 A1).

In a case where the image reading apparatus is installed in a narrowspace such as under a shelf or a desk, there is a possibility that asufficient space for opening and closing the document tray cannot besecured in the configuration of opening and closing the document tray asdescribed above. That is, in a case where the image reading apparatus isinstalled in a narrow space, operability is not good.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a configuration having good operabilityeven when an apparatus is installed in a narrow space.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a document feedingapparatus includes a document supporting portion including a firstsupporting portion having a first supporting surface configured tosupport a document, and a second supporting portion having a secondsupporting surface configured to support the document together with thefirst supporting surface and provided so as to be slidable between afirst position at which the second supporting portion located above thefirst supporting portion and a second position at which the secondsupporting surface supports the document together with the firstsupporting surface, and, a document feeding portion configured to feedthe document supported by the document supporting portion. In a statewhere the second supporting portion is located at the first position,the second supporting surface constitutes a portion of an upper surfaceof the document feeding apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an image readingapparatus includes a document supporting portion including a firstsupporting portion having a first supporting surface configured tosupport a document, and a second supporting portion having a secondsupporting surface configured to support the document together with thefirst supporting surface and provided so as to be slidable between afirst position at which the second supporting portion located above thefirst supporting portion and a second position at which the secondsupporting surface supports the document together with the firstsupporting surface, a document feeding portion configured to feed adocument supported by the document supporting portion, and, an imagereading unit configured to read an image on a document fed by thedocument feeding portion. In a state where the second supporting portionis located at the first position, the second supporting surfaceconstitutes a portion of an upper surface of the image readingapparatus.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an image formingapparatus includes a document supporting portion including a firstsupporting portion having a first supporting surface configured tosupport a document, and a second supporting portion having a secondsupporting surface configured to support the document together with thefirst supporting surface and provided so as to be slidable between afirst position at which the second supporting portion located above thefirst supporting portion and a second position at which the secondsupporting surface supports the document together with the firstsupporting surface, a document feeding portion configured to feed adocument supported by the document supporting portion, an image readingunit configured to read an image on a document fed by the documentfeeding portion, and, an image forming unit configured to form an imageon a sheet based on the image on the document read by the image readingunit. In a state where the second supporting portion is located at thefirst position, the second supporting surface constitutes a portion ofan upper surface of the image forming apparatus.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments with reference to theattached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according toa first embodiment as viewed from a front side.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus according tothe first embodiment as viewed from a right front side.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a pressureplate of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodimentis opened.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating schematic configuration ofthe image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an ADF according to the firstembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating a drive configuration of a readingunit of the image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a documentfeed tray and a document discharge tray of the image forming apparatusaccording to the first embodiment are drawn out.

FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating a pivot range of an operation panelin a state where a document feed tray and a document discharge tray ofthe image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment are drawnout.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the image forming apparatus illustrating arelationship between an apparatus center of the image forming apparatusaccording to the first embodiment and a document conveyance center.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the periphery of aslide rail according to the first embodiment with a sub-tray removed.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the sub-tray according to the firstembodiment as viewed from below.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a periphery of anabutting portion of the sub-tray according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the ADF according to the firstembodiment as viewed from above with a sub-tray removed.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating details of a rail accordingto the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a partial cross-sectional view of the ADF illustrating astate in which the sub-tray according to the first embodiment is at asecond position.

FIG. 16 is a partial cross-sectional view of the ADF illustrating astate in which the sub-tray according to the first embodiment is drawnout from the second position.

FIG. 17 is a partial cross-sectional view of the ADF illustrating astate in which the sub-tray according to the first embodiment is drawnout from the second position and tilted.

FIG. 18 is a partial cross-sectional view of the ADF illustrating astate in which the sub-tray according to the first embodiment is pushedtoward a first position.

FIG. 19 is a partial cross-sectional view of the ADF illustrating astate in which the sub-tray according to the first embodiment is at afirst position.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a relationship betweenthe abutting portion and the abutted portion immediately before thesub-tray according to the first embodiment is pushed toward the firstposition.

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which theabutting portion and the abutted portion abut on each other when thesub-tray according to the first embodiment is pushed toward the firstposition.

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which thesub-tray according to the first embodiment is pushed toward the firstposition and the abutted portion is locked to the recess portion.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view illustrating a document placing surface ofa platen glass according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the platen according to the firstembodiment as viewed from below.

FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view around a document placing surface ofthe image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 26A is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 23 .

FIG. 26B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 23 .

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according toa second embodiment.

FIG. 28 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a sub-trayof the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment isdrawn out.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a sub-trayof the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment isremoved.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment

A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 26B.First, a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus accordingto the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to4 .

Image Forming Apparatus

An image forming apparatus 100 is a printer capable of forming afull-color image, and in the present embodiment, includes an apparatusmain body 200 having an image forming unit 201 that forms an image on asheet, and an image reading apparatus 300 having a reading unit 301serving as an image reading unit that reads an image on a document. Theimage reading apparatus 300 is provided in an upper portion of theapparatus main body 200. Note that, in the following description, thesheet includes, in addition to plain paper, special paper such as coatedpaper, a recording material having a special shape such as an envelopeor index paper, and a plastic film for an overhead projector or cloth,and a document is an example of the sheet.

The image forming apparatus 100 is provided with an operation panel 400serving as an operation unit for receiving an operation by an operatoron the apparatus front side (front side in FIG. 1 , left front side inFIGS. 2 and 3 , right side in FIG. 4 ). The operation panel 400 includesa physical switch 401 such as a start button, and a display portion 402such as a liquid crystal screen capable of displaying various types ofinformation and performing a touch operation. In the present embodiment,as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the operation panel 400 is disposed onthe front surface (the surface on the apparatus front side) of the imageforming apparatus 100 so as to be shifted to the left side from theapparatus center when the apparatus is viewed from the front surfaceside. Note that the operation panel 400 may be shifted rightward.

Hereinafter, the side on which the operation panel 400 is disposed isreferred to as an apparatus front side, a front side, and the oppositeside is referred to as an apparatus rear side, a rear side, or a backside (rear side of FIG. 1 , right rear side of FIGS. 2 and 3 , left sideof FIG. 4 ). When simply referred to as “right” or “left”, it is assumedthat the image forming apparatus 100 is viewed from the front side.Further, a direction from the apparatus front side toward the apparatusrear side and a direction from the apparatus rear side toward theapparatus front side are referred to as a front-rear direction, and aleft-right direction when the image forming apparatus 100 is viewed fromthe front side is simply referred to as a “left-right direction” or a“width direction”.

In the present embodiment, as will be described later, the image formingunit 201 is an inkjet image forming unit that ejects ink onto a sheet toform an image. Therefore, remaining amount display portions 202 a and202 b that display the remaining amount of ink used in the image formingunit 201 are arranged on the apparatus front side of the image formingapparatus 100. The remaining amount display portion 202 a on the rightside of the image forming apparatus 100 indicates the remaining amountof yellow, magenta, and cyan inks, and the remaining amount displayportion 202 b on the left side indicates the remaining amount of blackink. In the present embodiment, the remaining amount display portions202 a and 202 b are windows formed so that the remaining amount of inkin the ink tank of each color can be seen, but may be a display portionsuch as a liquid crystal screen that displays an image corresponding tothe remaining amount of ink of each color. Furthermore, the positions ofthe remaining amount display portions of the color ink and the black inkmay be reversed left and right, or may be collectively arranged oneither left or right.

A USB terminal 101 for connection with an external terminal of apersonal computer or the like is provided on the front surface of theimage forming apparatus 100. The USB terminal 101 may be provided on aright side surface or a left side surface of the image forming apparatus100, or may be provided on a back surface thereof. In the presentembodiment, the USB terminal 101 is provided on the front surface of theimage forming apparatus 100 in order to improve operability from thefront surface of the image forming apparatus 100.

Apparatus Main Body

Next, the apparatus main body 200 will be described. As illustrated inFIG. 4 , the apparatus main body 200 includes a cassette 203, a pickuproller 204 serving as a sheet feeding unit, an image forming unit 201, asheet discharge roller pair 205 serving as a sheet discharge portion,and the like. The cassette 203 serving as a sheet supporting portionsupports a sheet. The pickup roller 204 feeds a sheet supported by thecassette 203. The image forming unit 201 forms an image on the sheet fedby the pickup roller 204. The sheet discharge roller pair 205 dischargesthe sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 201.Details will be described below.

The cassette 203 can store a plurality of sheets, and the plurality ofsheets are supported in a state of being stacked in the cassette 203.The cassette 203 can be inserted into and drawn out of the casing 210 ofthe apparatus main body 200. The drawing direction of the cassette 203is the apparatus front side. That is, when the sheet is stored in thecassette 203, the cassette 203 is drawn out to the apparatus front side.Then, the cassette 203 containing the sheets is pushed into theapparatus rear side to attach the cassette 203 to the casing 210. Forthis purpose, on the apparatus front side of the cassette 203, acassette gripping portion 203 a (see FIGS. 1, 2 , and the like) for theoperator to grip with a hand and draw out the cassette 203 is provided.

The pickup roller 204 picks up a sheet in the cassette 203. Theuppermost sheet in the cassette 203 is picked up by the pickup roller204 and fed toward a conveyance path 206 a. In the present embodiment,the pickup roller 204 feeds a sheet in a sheet feeding direction fromthe apparatus front side toward the apparatus rear side. The sheetfeeding direction in which the pickup roller 204 feeds the sheet may bea direction from the apparatus rear side toward the apparatus frontside.

The sheet conveyed in the conveyance path 206 a reaches a registrationroller pair 207 serving as a conveying member that conveys the sheet.The sheet conveyed from the conveyance path 206 a abuts on theregistration roller pair 207 in a state where the rotation is stopped.Accordingly, skew feeding of the sheet is corrected. Next, theregistration roller pair 207 starts to rotate in accordance with theimage forming timing by the image forming unit 201, and sends the sheetto the image forming unit 201.

On the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction of theregistration roller pair 207, a reverse conveyance path 206 b forreversing the sheet conveyed in the reverse direction of the sheetconveying direction and sending the sheet to the image forming unit 201is provided. When images are formed on both sides of a sheet, the imageforming unit 201 forms an image on one side of the sheet conveyed fromthe conveyance path 206 a. Next, the sheet on which the image is formedon one side is conveyed in the reverse direction, the conveyance path isswitched by a switching member (not illustrated), and the sheet isguided to the reverse conveyance path 206 b. Then, the reversed sheetreaches the registration roller pair 207 again, and an image is formedon the back surface of the sheet by the image forming unit 201.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the manual feed tray 208 isprovided in an upper portion on the apparatus rear side of the imageforming apparatus 100. The manual feed tray 208 is pivotable between astorage position illustrated in FIG. 4 and a placing position at whichthe tray is opened from the storage position and sheets can be placedthereon. The sheet can be fed into the apparatus at the placingposition. Specifically, the sheet placed on the manual feed tray 208 isconveyed to the conveyance path 208 b by a feeding roller (notillustrated). The sheet conveyed in the conveyance path 208 b reachesthe registration roller pair 207. Hereinafter, the sheet is processedsimilar to the sheet conveyed from the cassette 203. Note that themanual feed tray 208 is provided on the rear side of the image readingapparatus 300, and does not protrude from the back surface of the casing210 of the apparatus main body 200 and the upper surface of the imagereading apparatus 300 at the storage position.

As described above, the image forming unit 201 employs an inkjet systemthat ejects ink to form an image on a sheet. That is, a recording headcapable of ejecting the ink of each color is provided, and the recordinghead of each color ejects the ink toward the sheet conveyed by theregistration roller pair 207 according to an image signal input from theimage reading apparatus 300 or an external terminal. As a result, animage is formed on the sheet. The image forming unit 201 may be anelectrophotographic image forming unit using toner.

The sheet discharge roller pair 205 discharges the sheet on which theimage is formed by the image forming unit 201 to the discharge tray 209.The sheet discharge roller pair 205 discharges the sheet in a sheetdischarge direction from the apparatus rear side toward the apparatusfront side. The discharge tray 209 can be inserted into and drawn outfrom the casing 210. The drawing direction of the discharge tray 209 ison the apparatus front side. For this reason, on the apparatus frontside of the discharge tray 209, a discharge tray gripping portion 209 a(see FIGS. 1, 2 , and the like) is provided for the operator to gripwith a hand and draw out the discharge tray 209.

Image Reading Apparatus

Next, the image reading apparatus 300 will be described. As illustratedin FIGS. 3 and 4 , the image reading apparatus 300 includes an automaticdocument feeder (ADF) 310 serving as an automatic document feedingapparatus, a platen glass 302, a pressure plate 303 serving as adocument pressing portion, two hinges 304 (FIG. 3 ) serving as pivotsupporting portions, a reading unit 301, and the like. The image readingapparatus 300 according to the present embodiment can execute aso-called feeding-reading mode in which an image on a document is readby the reading unit 301 while the document is conveyed by the ADF 310,and a so-called fixed-reading mode in which an image on a document isread by moving the reading unit 301 in a state where the document isplaced on the platen glass 302 and the document is pressed against theplaten glass 302 by the pressure plate 303.

In the present embodiment, the maximum size of the document for which animage is read is different between the feeding-reading mode and thefixed-reading mode, and the maximum size of the corresponding documentis smaller in the fixed-reading mode. For example, the maximum size ofthe document corresponding to the feeding-reading mode is A4 size, andthe maximum size of the document corresponding to the fixed-reading modeis A5 size. However, the maximum sizes of the documents corresponding toboth the modes may be the same. Note that the “maximum size” in thepresent embodiment means the maximum size that can be read by the imagereading apparatus described in, for example, a specification or aninstruction manual of the apparatus.

Platen Glass and Pressure plate

First, a configuration related to the platen glass 302 and the pressureplate 303 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 . The platenglass 302 is a plate-like transparent member having a document placingsurface 302 a on which a document is placed. That is, the image readingapparatus 300 includes a platen 332, and the platen glass 302 and areading glass 333 are provided on the platen 332. The upper surface ofthe platen glass 302 serves as the document placing surface 302 a.

The platen glass 302 is provided in the entire range where the readingunit 301 moves to perform reading so that the image on the documentplaced on the platen glass 302 can be read by the reading unit 301 whenthe fixed-reading mode is performed. On the other hand, the readingglass 333 is a transparent member provided at an image reading position(feeding-reading position) at a position away from the platen glass 302,and is different from the platen glass 302. That is, the reading glass333 is provided at a position where the reading unit 301 stops when thefeeding-reading mode is performed. When the feeding-reading mode isperformed, the reading unit 301 moves to a position facing the readingglass 333 and reads an image on a document conveyed by the ADF 310described later via the reading glass 333.

The pressure plate 303 serving as a document pressing portion pressesthe document placed on the platen glass 302 against the platen glass302. The pressure plate 303 is supported with respect to a casing 330 aon the platen 332 side of the image reading apparatus 300 together withthe ADF 310 to be described later so as to be pivotable between a closedposition illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and an open position illustratedin FIG. 3 by a hinge 304 serving as a pivot supporting portion.

The closed position is a position where the document is pressed againstthe platen glass 302 by the pressure plate 303. The open position is aposition where the platen glass 302 is opened so that the document canbe placed on the platen glass 302. The hinge 304 pivotably supports thepressure plate 303 with respect to the casing 330 a of the image readingapparatus 300 about a pivot shaft (pivot axis). The pivot shaft isdisposed to extend in a direction along a width direction (left-rightdirection) that is a direction orthogonal to a direction from theapparatus front side toward the apparatus rear side and the verticaldirection.

In addition, the hinge 304 is disposed closer to the apparatus rear sidethan the platen glass 302, and a gripping portion 323 configured to begripped to pivot the pressure plate 303 from the closed position to theopen position is disposed at an end of the pressure plate 303 on theapparatus front side. The gripping portion 323 is a recess portionformed on the end face of the pressure plate 303 on the apparatus frontside so that the operator can lift the pressure plate 303 by putting ahand in order to pivot the pressure plate 303 to the open position. Notethat the gripping portion 323 can be pushed down with a hand in order topivot the pressure plate 303 from the open position to the closedposition. As described later, such a gripping portion 323 also serves asa gripping portion for drawing out the sub-tray 322 of the document feedtray 320.

In the present embodiment, as described above, the hinge 304 is disposedon the apparatus rear side, and the gripping portion 323 is disposed onthe apparatus front side. Therefore, the operator grips the grippingportion 323 from the apparatus front side to open and close the pressureplate 303. For example, when pivoting the pressure plate 303 from theclosed position to the open position, the operator grips the grippingportion 323 and lifts the pressure plate 303. At this time, the end ofthe pressure plate 303 on the apparatus front side passes through atrajectory such that the end is positioned on the apparatus rear side asit goes upward about the pivot shaft of the hinge 304.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 , in order to position a document at areference position for reading the document by the reading unit 301, theend of the platen glass 302 is provided with a first abutment portion305 and a second abutment portion 306 against which the edge portion ofthe document placed on the document placing surface 302 a abuts. Thefirst abutment portion 305 performs positioning of the document in thefront-rear direction, and the second abutment portion 306 performspositioning of the document in the left-right direction. A detaileddescription will be given later.

ADF

Next, the ADF 310 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 .The ADF 310 is provided in the pressure plate 303, and includes adocument feed tray 320, a document feeding portion 311, a back surfacereading unit 312, a sheet discharge roller 313 serving as a documentdischarge portion, and the like. The document feed tray 320 serving as adocument supporting portion supports a document. The document feedingportion 311 feeds a document supported by the document feed tray 320.The back surface reading unit 312 reads the image on the back side ofthe document fed by the document feeding portion 311. Note that theimage on the surface of the document is read by the reading unit 301serving as an image reading unit. The sheet discharge roller 313discharges the document whose image has been read by the reading unit301 or the back surface reading unit 312. In the present embodiment, themaximum size of the document that can be conveyed by the ADF 310 is theA4 vertical size. That is, it is possible to convey the document suchthat the longitudinal direction of the A4-size document is the conveyingdirection as the maximum document size. Details will be described below.

At least a part of the document feed tray 320 is slidably arranged onthe apparatus front side with respect to the casing 330 on the ADF 310side of the image reading apparatus 300. Specifically, the document feedtray 320 includes a main body tray 321 serving as a first supportingportion having a first supporting surface 321 a that supports thedocument, and a sub-tray 322 serving as a second supporting portion anda slide supporting portion having a second supporting surface 322 a thatsupports the document together with the first supporting surface 321 a.The sub-tray 322 is arranged so as to be slidable between a firstposition with respect to the casing 330 having the pressure plate 303and a second position closer to the apparatus front side than the firstposition, and forms a supporting surface capable of supporting thedocument at the second position. Details of the document feed tray 320will be described later.

The document feeding portion 311 includes a pickup roller 314, aseparation roller 315, a separation pad 316, and the like. The pickuproller 314 picks up the uppermost document placed on the document feedtray 320. The separation roller 315 and the separation pad 316 arepressed against each other to form a separation nip, and the documentspicked up by the pickup roller 314 are separated one by one and conveyedto the conveyance path 317. The document feeding portion 311 feeds adocument in a document feeding direction from the apparatus front sideto the apparatus rear side.

A conveying roller 317 a serving as a document conveying portion thatconveys a document is provided in the middle of the conveyance path 317,and the document separated and conveyed by the separation roller 315 isfurther conveyed downstream by the conveying roller 317 a. That is, theconveying roller 317 a conveys the document fed by the document feedingportion 311 toward the image reading position. Then, the image on thefront surface of the document is read by the reading unit 301 located atthe image reading position. Further, a back surface reading unit 312 isdisposed at a position facing the back surface of the document passingthrough the conveyance path 317 on the downstream side of the imagereading position in the conveying direction of the document in theconveyance path 317. When the operator instructs to read the backsurface of the document, the back surface reading unit 312 also reads animage on the back surface of the document.

The sheet discharge roller 313 discharges the document whose image hasbeen read by the reading unit 301 or the back surface reading unit 312to the document discharge tray 319. The sheet discharge roller 313discharges the document in a document discharge direction from theapparatus rear side to the apparatus front side.

The document discharged from the sheet discharge roller 313 is stackedon the document discharge tray 319 serving as a document stackingportion. The document discharge tray 319 includes a supporting surfaceintegrally formed with the casing 330 and an extension tray 318 that canbe inserted into and drawn out of the casing 330. The drawing directionof the extension tray 318 serving as the extension stacking portion ison the apparatus front side. For this purpose, a discharge tray grippingportion 318 a (see FIGS. 1, 2 , and the like) for the operator to gripand draw out the extension tray 318 is provided on the apparatus frontside of the extension tray 318. Details of the extension tray 318 willbe described later.

Reading Unit

The reading unit 301 and the back surface reading unit 312 are, forexample, contact image sensors (CIS). The CIS reads image information ofa document by irradiating a surface on which an image on the document ispresent with light from a light source such as an LED and formingreflected light reflected from the surface on a sensor element by aself-focusing rod lens array. As will be described later, the readingunit 301 that reads the front surface of the document is movable insidethe platen glass 302, and is stopped at the image reading position whenreading an image on the document conveyed by the ADF 310 (that is, inthe case of the feeding-reading mode).

In the present embodiment, the reading unit 301 is configured to move inthe front-rear direction of the apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 6 .That is, the reading unit 301 is disposed inside the casing 330 a of theimage reading apparatus 300 on the side opposite to the pressure plate303 with respect to the platen glass 302. Inside the casing 330 a, areading moving unit 350 that reciprocates the reading unit 301 in adirection orthogonal to the pivot shaft of the hinge 304 is provided.The direction in which the reading moving unit 350 moves the readingunit 301 is a direction from the apparatus front side toward theapparatus rear side and a direction opposite to this direction, that is,the front-rear direction of the apparatus. Therefore, the direction inwhich the reading unit 301 moves is a direction along the direction inwhich the document is fed by the document feeding portion 311.

The reading moving unit 350 includes a carriage 351, a rail 352 servingas a guide portion, a carriage motor 353, a belt 354, and the like. Thecarriage 351 supports the reading unit 301. The rail 352 guides thecarriage 351 in a direction from the apparatus front side toward theapparatus rear side and in a direction opposite to this direction. Thecarriage motor 353 is a drive source that moves the carriage 351. Thebelt 354 is a power transmission unit that transmits the drive of thecarriage motor 353 to the carriage 351 to move the carriage 351.Hereinafter, a specific description will be given.

The reading unit 301 is disposed such that the longitudinal direction,which is the main scanning direction, is a direction along the widthdirection of the apparatus. The length of the reading unit 301 in thelongitudinal direction is, for example, such that an image within therange of the length in the short direction of the A4 size can be read.The carriage 351 supports the reading unit 301 such that thelongitudinal direction of the reading unit 301 is maintained in thedirection along the width direction even when the reading unit 301 movesin the front-rear direction (that is, the sub scanning direction). Therail 352 is disposed in a direction along the front-rear direction ofthe apparatus, supports the carriage 351, and guides the carriage 351 inthe front-rear direction.

The carriage motor 353 is disposed at a position deviated from thedocument placing surface 302 a in any one of the width directions. Inthe present embodiment, as described above, the carriage motor 353 isarranged on the left side which is the side on which the operation panel400 is arranged. That is, the carriage motor 353 is disposed on the leftside of the document placing surface 302 a in the width direction and onthe rear side of the operation panel 400 in the front-rear direction.Note that the carriage motor 353 may be arranged on the right side ofthe document placing surface 302 a in the width direction, but as willbe described in detail later, it is preferable to arrange the carriagemotor on the side opposite to the side where a conveyance center of thedocument is shifted from the center of the apparatus.

The belt 354 is stretched between a drive pulley 355 a serving as adrive stretching portion, a first pulley 355 b serving as a firststretching portion, and a second pulley 355 c serving as a secondstretching portion. The carriage 351 is fixed to a portion of the belt354 stretched between the first pulley 355 b and the second pulley 355c. As a result, the belt 354 is driven and rotated by the carriage motor353, so that the carriage 351 can reciprocate between the first pulley355 b and the second pulley 355 c.

The drive pulley 355 a is a pulley that is disposed on one side in thewidth direction with respect to the document placing surface 302 atogether with the carriage motor 353 and transmits the drive of thecarriage motor 353. In the present embodiment, the drive pulley 355 a isprovided on an output shaft 353 c of a speed reducer 353 b thatdecelerates and outputs the drive of the drive shaft 353 a of thecarriage motor 353. In the present embodiment, as described above, thecarriage motor 353, the speed reducer 353 b, and the drive pulley 355 aare collectively arranged in any one space in the width direction of thedocument placing surface 302 a. Accordingly, it is possible toeffectively use a space generated by shifting the conveyance center ofthe document from the center of the apparatus.

The first pulley 355 b is disposed further closer to one side than themoving end on one side (apparatus rear side) of the carriage 351 in thedirection along the moving direction of the carriage 351, that is, thefront-rear direction. As will be described later, the reading glass 333at the image reading position is provided closer to the apparatus rearside than the document placing surface 302 a of the platen glass 302.Therefore, in the present embodiment, the moving end on the apparatusrear side of the carriage 351 is a position where the reading unit 301can be located at the image reading position. The first pulley 355 b isprovided at a position where the carriage 351 can move until the readingunit 301 is located at the image reading position.

Note that, for example, in a case where the reading unit 301 movesfurther closer to the apparatus rear side than the reading glass 333,such as a case where the home position of the reading unit 301 is closerto the apparatus rear side than the reading glass 333, the positionwhere the reading unit 301 can move to the position on the apparatusrear side is the moving end on the apparatus rear side of the carriage351.

The second pulley 355 c is disposed further closer to the other sidethan the moving end on the other side (apparatus front side) of thecarriage 351 in the front-rear direction. In the present embodiment, thehome position of the reading unit 301 is set to the end on the apparatusfront side in the movement range of the reading unit 301. For example, aposition closer to the apparatus front side than the platen glass 302 isset as a home position of the reading unit 301. Therefore, in thepresent embodiment, the moving end of the carriage 351 on the apparatusfront side is a position where the reading unit 301 can be located atthe home position. The second pulley 355 c is provided at a positionwhere the carriage 351 can move until the reading unit 301 is located atthe home position.

Note that the home position may be a position on the apparatus rear sideas described above. In this case, the moving end of the carriage 351 onthe apparatus front side is a position where the reading unit 301 can bepositioned at the end on the front side of the scanning range in thesub-scanning direction.

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the drive pulley355 a is disposed on the left side of the apparatus, the first pulley355 b is disposed on the apparatus rear side, and the second pulley 355c is disposed on the apparatus front side, the belt 354 is stretched ina substantially triangular shape as illustrated in FIG. 6 . A portion ofthe belt 354 stretched between the first pulley 355 b and the secondpulley 355 c is substantially parallel to the arrangement direction ofthe rail 352. Therefore, by driving the carriage motor 353 to rotate thebelt 354, the reading unit 301 supported by the carriage 351reciprocates between the first pulley 355 b and the second pulley 355 calong the rail 352. Accordingly, the reading unit 301 is moved to theimage reading position in the feeding-reading mode, or the reading unit301 is moved in the front-rear direction in the fixed-reading mode.

In the present embodiment, the reading moving unit 350 moves the readingunit 301 from the apparatus front side to the apparatus rear side whenreading an image on a document placed on the platen glass 302, that is,in the fixed-reading mode. That is, as will be described later, in thepresent embodiment, since the first abutment portion 305 that positionsthe document in the front-rear direction is provided on the apparatusfront side, the reading unit 301 is moved from the apparatus front sideto the apparatus rear side when the fixed-reading mode is performed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the home position of the readingunit 301 is set to the apparatus front side (the first abutment portionside). Therefore, when the fixed-reading mode is started, the distancefor the reading unit 301 to move from the home position to the readingstart position can be shortened, and the time lag from the instructionto start the reading by the operator to the actual start of thefixed-reading mode can be shortened. When the feeding-reading mode isexecuted, the reading unit 301 is moved from the home position to theimage reading position.

Document Feed Tray

As described above, in the document feed tray 320 serving as thedocument supporting portion, the sub-tray 322 serving as the secondsupporting portion is slidable to the first position and the secondposition with respect to the main body tray 321 serving as the firstsupporting portion. The first position is a position where the sub-tray322 covers the upper side of the main body tray 321 in a state where thesecond supporting surface 322 a is positioned above the back surface 322b which is the back surface of the second supporting surface 322 a. Thatis, the first position is a storage position at which the sub-tray 322is stored in the casing 330, and is a position illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2 .

In the sub-tray 322, the second supporting surface 322 a faces upwardeven in the state of being at the first position, and for example, thesub-tray does not pivot when being stored, and the back surface does notface upward. The second supporting surface 322 a of the sub-tray 322constitutes an upper surface of the exterior surface of the imagereading apparatus 300 in a state of being located at the first position.That is, the second supporting surface 322 a also serves as an exteriorcover of the image reading apparatus 300.

In the present embodiment, in a state where the sub-tray 322 is at thefirst position, the sub-tray is in a state of being continuous with theupper surface portion 331 of the casing 330 with substantially no step,and in a state where the image forming apparatus 100 is installed at theinstallation place, the second supporting surface 322 a and the uppersurface portion 331 are substantially parallel to the horizontal plane.The sub-tray 322 located at the first position and the upper surfaceportion 331 are located on the same plane. Therefore, documents and thelike can be placed on the second supporting surface 322 a and the uppersurface portion 331.

The second supporting surface 322 a of the sub-tray 322 is continuous ina state where there is substantially no gap from the upper surfaceportion 331 in the state of being at the first position or in a statewhere there is a slight gap (for example, 1 mm or less), but a gaplarger than this gap may be present between the second supportingsurface 322 a and the upper surface portion 331. In addition, there maybe a step between the second supporting surface 322 a and the uppersurface portion 331, or the second supporting surface 322 a may beinclined with respect to the horizontal plane in a state of being at thefirst position. In the sub-tray 322, the second supporting surface 322 amay not be exposed upward when stored in the casing 330. For example, itmay be configured to be stored below the top surface portion of thecasing 330 and above the main body tray 321. In short, the sub-tray 322may be configured to be stored above the main body tray 321 by sliding.

The second position is a position where the second supporting surface322 a supports the document together with the first supporting surface321 a in a state where the second supporting surface 322 a is positionedabove the back surface 322 b. That is, the second position is a positionillustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 , and is a document setting position wherea document is set. In the sub-tray 322, in the state of being at thesecond position, the inclination angle of the second supporting surface322 a with respect to the horizontal plane is larger than that of thefirst supporting surface 321 a. The inclination direction of the secondsupporting surface 322 a at this time is a direction inclined downwardtoward the downstream side with respect to the feeding direction of thedocument.

In the present embodiment, the sub-tray 322 is positioned at the secondposition by drawing out the sub-tray 322 from the first position to theapparatus front side. That is, the direction in which the sub-tray 322is slid from the first position to the second position is a directionfrom the apparatus rear side to the apparatus front side. When thesub-tray 322 is returned from the second position to the first position,the sub-tray 322 is pushed into the apparatus rear side while returningthe inclination of the sub-tray 322 to the state of being at the firstposition, thereby positioning the sub-tray 322 at the first position.The sub-tray 322 is slidably supported at the first position and thesecond position by the slide movement supporting portion 340. The slidemovement supporting portion 340 will be described later.

Further, a gripping portion 323 serving as a slide movement grippingportion which grips the sub-tray 322 to slide the sub-tray 322 isprovided at an end of the sub-tray on the apparatus front side. Asillustrated in FIG. 5 , the gripping portion 323 has a notch 323 a cutout to open downward at a part of the end of the sub-tray 322 on theapparatus front side, and a recessed portion 323 b recessed upward atthe apparatus rear side of the notch 323 a. When the sub-tray 322 isdrawn out toward the apparatus front side, for example, the operatorputs a finger into the recessed portion 323 b and pulls the sub-tray 322toward the apparatus front side. On the other hand, when the pressureplate 303 is pivoted from the closed position to the open position, forexample, the operator puts a hand into the notch 323 a and lifts thepressure plate 303.

The extension tray 318 is positioned below the notch 323 a. Then, thedischarge tray gripping portion 318 a described above can be gripped byputting a hand into the notch 323 a. In addition, it is also possible topivot the pressure plate 303 at the open position to the closed positionby putting a hand into the notch 323 a and gripping and pushing down thedischarge tray gripping portion 318 a of the extension tray 318 in thestate of not being drawn out, that is, in the inserted state.

In the present embodiment, as described above, the gripping portion 323also serves as a gripping portion for performing a pull-out operation ofthe sub-tray 322 and an operation for opening and closing the pressureplate 303. For this purpose, as will be described in detail later, alocking portion 348 (FIG. 22 ) capable of locking the sub-tray 322 tothe first position is provided. When the pressure plate 303 is openedand closed in this manner, the sub-tray 322 is prevented from beinginadvertently drawn out from the first position, and operability isimproved.

Document Discharge Tray

As described above, the extension tray 318 of the document dischargetray 319 can be drawn out to the apparatus front side. Specifically, theextension tray 318 includes an extension tray main body 318 b and apivot member 318 c. The extension tray main body 318 b is slidablysupported by the casing 330 so as to be inserted into and drawn out fromthe casing 330. That is, the extension tray 318 can be drawn out fromthe casing 330 of the image reading apparatus 300 in the same directionas the direction in which the sub-tray 322 slides from the firstposition to the second position. Further, the extension tray 318 ispositioned below the sub-tray 322 positioned at the second position inthe drawn-out state.

The pivot member 318 c is pivotably supported by an end of the extensiontray main body 318 b on the apparatus front side, and can support adocument together with the extension tray main body 318 b in an openedstate as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5, and 7 . The pivot member 318 c cansuppress the discharged document from falling from the documentdischarge tray 319 in a state where the pivot member 318 c rises withrespect to the extension tray main body 318 b. As illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2 , in a state where the pivot member 318 c is folded toward theupper surface of the extension tray main body 318 b, the extension tray318 can be stored in the casing 330. Even in the folded state of thepivot member 318 c, the back surface in the opened state of the pivotmember 318 c constitutes a placing surface for placing the documenttogether with the extension tray main body 318 b. Although the extensiontray 318 in the present embodiment has the extension tray main body 318b and the pivot member 318 c, the configuration of the extension tray318 is not limited thereto. For example, the extension tray 318 may beformed only of the extension tray main body 318 b and may not have thepivot member 318 c.

Here, as illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 , in a state where theextension tray 318 is drawn out, the extension tray 318 is located at aposition separated from the operation panel 400 in the width direction.In other words, the operation panel 400 is disposed at a position wherethe operation panel 400 dose not overlap the drawn-out extension tray318 when viewed from above the image forming apparatus 100. Asillustrated in FIG. 8 , the operation panel 400 is supported on thecasing 210 of the apparatus main body 200 or the casing 330 a of theimage reading apparatus 300 (the casing of the image forming apparatus100) so as to be pivotable between a solid line position and a brokenline position in the drawing around a pivot shaft disposed in parallelwith the width direction in the vicinity of the upper end of theoperation panel 400.

That is, the operation panel 400 is supported with respect to the casingof the image forming apparatus 100 so as to be pivotable between a firstoperation position where the display portion 402 faces the apparatusfront side and a second operation position where the display portion 402faces upward than the first operation position. Specifically, the solidline position of the operation panel 400 in FIG. 8 is the firstoperation position, and the surface (front surface) of the operationpanel 400 on the apparatus front side is in the substantially verticaldirection. On the other hand, the broken line position of the operationpanel 400 in FIG. 8 is the second operation position, and the frontsurface of the operation panel 400 is inclined with respect to thevertical direction, and the front surface is directed obliquely upward.

If the operation panel 400 is disposed at a position overlapping atleast a part of the extension tray 318 in the drawn-out state whenviewed from above the image forming apparatus 100, operability of theoperation panel 400 in a state where the extension tray 318 is drawn outis deteriorated. In particular, since the extension tray 318 isconfigured to be drawn out from the lower portion of the image readingapparatus 300 arranged in the upper portion of the apparatus main body200 to the apparatus front side, the distance in the vertical directionbetween the extension tray 318 in the drawn-out state and the operationpanel 400 is short. For this reason, for example, in a case where theoperation panel 400 is set to the second operation position, if a partof the extension tray 318 in the drawn-out state overlaps the operationpanel 400 when viewed from above, the visibility of the display portion402 decreases, or the operability of the physical switch 401 or thedisplay portion 402 decreases. Therefore, in the present embodiment, theextension tray 318 and the operation panel 400 do not overlap when theimage forming apparatus 100 is viewed from above. However, it issufficient that at least the display portion 402 of the operation panel400 is arranged so as not to overlap the extension tray 318, and aportion other than the display portion 402 of the operation panel 400may be arranged at a position overlapping the extension tray 318.

Note that the sub-tray 322 of the document feed tray 320 at leastpartially overlaps a part of the operation panel 400 when the imageforming apparatus 100 is viewed from above, but the sub-tray 322 hasless influence on the operability of the operation panel 400 than theextension tray 318. That is, since the sub-tray 322 is above theextension tray 318 and is drawn out in a state of being inclined upward,the distance in the vertical direction from the operation panel 400 islarger than that of the extension tray 318. Therefore, even if theoperation panel 400 is at the second operation position, there is littleinfluence on the operability of the operation panel 400.

It is preferable that the sub-tray 322 does not overlap the operationpanel 400 when the image forming apparatus 100 is viewed from above.However, in this case, there is a possibility that the apparatus becomeslarge, for example, a deviation amount between the conveyance center ofthe document and the apparatus center described below is increased.Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to improve theoperability of the operation panel 400 while reducing the size of theapparatus, the extension tray 318 does not overlap the operation panel400 when viewed from above, and the sub-tray 322 partially overlaps apart of the operation panel 400 when viewed from above.

Relationship Between Document Conveyance Center and Apparatus Center

Next, the relationship between the conveyance center of the document inthe image reading apparatus 300 and the apparatus center of the imageforming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 9 .First, the center in the left-right direction in the conveyance path ofthe document from the document feeding portion 311 to the sheetdischarge roller 313 is defined as a conveyance center N1 of thedocument, and the center in the left-right direction in the outer shapeof the image reading apparatus 300 is defined as an apparatus center N2.That is, the apparatus center N2 is a central portion in the widthdirection between both end faces in the width direction in the outershape of the image reading apparatus 300.

On the other hand, the conveyance center N1 of the document is a centerposition in the width direction between the regulating surfaces 320 aand 320 b of a pair of regulating guides that regulate both ends in thewidth direction of the document in the document feed tray 320. In thepresent embodiment, the pair of regulating surfaces 320 a and 320 b aremovable in directions approaching each other and separating from eachother in the width direction according to the size of the document, andthe position of the conveyance center N1 does not change regardless ofthe size of the document. In this configuration, the center position ofthe extension tray 318 in the width direction substantially coincideswith the conveyance center N1.

Note that there is also a configuration in which, for a pair ofrestriction guides that restrict both ends in the width direction of thedocument in the document feed tray 320, the restriction guide on oneside is fixed, and only the restriction guide on the other side is movedin the width direction in accordance with the size of the document. Inthis case, the position of the conveyance center N1 in the widthdirection is shifted depending on the size of the document. However, insuch a case, even if the conveyance center N1 comes closest to theapparatus center N2, the conveyance center N1 is shifted with respect tothe apparatus center N2. In addition, the direction of deviation is thesame regardless of the document size. In this configuration, the centerposition of the extension tray 318 in the width direction is shiftedfrom the conveyance center N1 depending on the size of the document.

The conveyance center N1 of the document is shifted to one of the leftand right directions with respect to the apparatus center N2. In thepresent embodiment, the conveyance center N1 is shifted to the sideopposite to the side where the operation panel 400 is shifted. In otherwords, the operation panel 400 is disposed such that the center of theoperation panel 400 is shifted with respect to the apparatus center N2in a direction (one side) opposite to a direction (the other side) inwhich the conveyance center N1 is shifted with respect to the apparatuscenter N2 in the left-right direction.

In the present embodiment, the operation panel 400 is shifted withrespect to the apparatus center N2 to a position where the left end ofthe operation panel 400 substantially coincides with the left end of thecasing 210 of the apparatus main body 200. However, the amount ofdeviation of the center of the operation panel 400 from the apparatuscenter N2 may be small. For example, although the center of theoperation panel 400 in the width direction is shifted from the apparatuscenter N2, a part of the operation panel 400 may be located on theapparatus center N2. However, it is preferable that the entire operationpanel 400 is shifted in the width direction with respect to theapparatus center N2. As described above, it is preferable to shift theoperation panel 400 in the width direction with respect to the apparatuscenter N2 to a position not overlapping the extension tray 318 in thestate of being drawn out when viewed from above.

The amount of deviation of the conveyance center N1 from the apparatuscenter N2 may also be small. For example, when the operation panel 400is disposed such that the left end of the operation panel 400substantially coincides with the left end of the casing 210 of theapparatus main body 200, a part of the extension tray 318 may overlap apart of the operation panel 400 when viewed from above. However, asdescribed above, it is preferable to shift the conveyance center N1 andthe apparatus center N2 so that the extension tray 318 and the operationpanel 400 do not overlap when viewed from above. When viewed from above,it is more preferable to shift the conveyance center N1 and theapparatus center N2 so that the sub-tray 322 and the operation panel 400do not overlap each other. The same applies to a configuration in whichthe restriction guide on one side is fixed and only the restrictionguide on the other side is moved in the width direction according to thesize of the document.

Furthermore, since the conveyance center N1 is deviated from theapparatus center N2, the area where the document does not pass increaseson the side opposite to the conveyance center N1 in the left-rightdirection of the casing 330. Therefore, it is preferable that a motorand a gear (not illustrated) for driving each roller of the documentfeeding portion 311 are stored on the side opposite to the conveyancecenter N1 with respect to the apparatus center N2. That is, in thepresent embodiment, a motor and a gear (not illustrated) for drivingeach roller of the document feeding portion 311 are stored on the leftside of the casing 330. Accordingly, it is possible to effectively use aspace generated by shifting the conveyance center N1 of the documentfrom the apparatus center N2.

Sliding Movement Supporting Portion

Next, the slide movement supporting portion 340 that slidably supportsthe sub-tray 322 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 22 .The slide movement supporting portion 340 includes a projection 341serving as a first engagement portion, and a rail 342 serving as asecond engagement portion and a guide portion. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the projections 341 are provided at both ends of the sub-tray 322 inthe width direction. The width direction is orthogonal to a direction inwhich the document is fed by the document feeding portion 311 (directionfrom the apparatus front side to the apparatus rear side) and thevertical direction. The projection 341 is provided so as to protrudefrom the end in the width direction of the sub-tray 322 toward a portionof the casing 330 facing the end in the width direction. As illustratedin FIG. 10 , the rail 342 is provided in the casing 330 of the imagereading apparatus 300 and can be engaged with the projection 341. Thatis, the rail 342 serving as a guide portion is engaged with theprojection 341 to slidably guide the sub-tray 322.

As described above, in the sub-tray 322, the second supporting surface322 a is inclined at the second position as compared with the state atthe first position. Therefore, the slide movement supporting portion 340includes a holding portion 343 that holds the sub-tray 322 in aninclined state at the second position.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the image reading apparatus 300includes an abutting portion 344 and an abutted portion 345 asillustrated in FIGS. 11 to 14 . The abutting portion 344 is provided onone of the casing 330 of the image reading apparatus 300 and thesub-tray 322. In the present embodiment, the abutting portion 344 isprovided on the sub-tray 322. The abutted portion 345 is provided on theother of the casing 330 of the image reading apparatus 300 and thesub-tray 322, and abuts on the abutting portion 344 in a state where thesub-tray 322 is located at a predetermined position between the firstposition and the second position, and does not abut on the abuttingportion 344 in a state where the sub-tray 322 is located closer to thesecond position than the predetermined position. In the presentembodiment, the abutted portion 345 is provided in the casing 330. Notethat the abutting portion 344 may be provided on the casing 330 side,and the abutted portion 345 may be provided on the sub-tray 322 side.Hereinafter, the configuration related to the sliding movement of thesub-tray 322 will be described in detail.

Configuration Related to Sub-tray

First, a configuration related to the sub-tray 322 in the slide movementconfiguration of the sub-tray 322 will be described with reference toFIGS. 11 and 12 . As illustrated in FIG. 11 , projections 341 areprovided at ends on the apparatus rear side of the end faces 322 c onboth sides in the width direction of the sub-tray 322 so as to protrudeoutward in the width direction (side away from the end face 322 c). Theprojection 341 has a shape elongated in the sliding direction of thesub-tray 322 when viewed from the width direction, and has an ellipticalshape or a shape in which ends of a first semicircle convexly curvedtoward a first direction and ends of a second semicircle that isconvexly curved toward a second direction opposite to the firstdirection are connected to each other via a pair of straight lines. Thefirst and second semicircles are protruding outward each other.

As illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12 , a bent portion 322 d formed to bebent downward from the end face 322 c is provided at the end of thesub-tray 322 on the apparatus front side. An extension portion 346formed to protrude toward the apparatus rear side is provided at an endof the bent portion 322 d on the apparatus rear side. A recessed portion347 is formed between the extension portion 346 and the end face 322 cso as to enter the apparatus front side from the end face of theextension portion 346 on the apparatus rear side. Therefore, there is agap between the extension portion 346 and the end face 322 c.

The above-described abutting portion 344 is provided at an end of theextension portion 346 on the apparatus rear side. That is, the abuttingportion 344 is provided so as to protrude outward in the width directionfrom a part of the extension portion 346. Of the outer surfaces of theextension portion 346 in the width direction, an inclined surface 346 athat is inclined inward in the width direction toward the distal end isformed on the apparatus rear side (distal end side) with respect to theabutting portion 344, and a recess portion 346 b that is recessed inwardin the width direction is formed on the apparatus front side withrespect to the abutting portion 344. An inclined surface 346 c that isinclined inward in the width direction toward the apparatus front sideis also formed between the abutting portion 344 and the recess portion346 b.

Configuration Related to Casing Side of Image Reading Apparatus

Next, a configuration related to the casing 330 side of the imagereading apparatus 300 in the slide movement configuration of thesub-tray 322 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 13 , and 14.As illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 13 , the casing 330 has an openingportion 334 through which the sub-tray 322 can be inserted and drawnout. The opening portion 334 has side walls 335 in which both ends inthe width direction of the sub-tray 322 at the first position face eachother. The side walls 335 are provided at both ends in the widthdirection of the opening portion 334 along the front-rear direction. Theside wall 335 is a wall surface perpendicular to the document dischargetray 319 and substantially parallel to the vertical direction.

A rail 342 is formed along the front-rear direction in an upper portionof the main body tray 321 in the side wall 335. The rail 342 is a recessportion formed so as to be recessed from the wall surface of the sidewall 335, and has a width in the vertical direction slightly larger thana width in the vertical direction (length in the lateral direction) ofthe projection 341. The rail 342 is engaged with the projection 341 andguides the projection 341 in the front-rear direction when theprojection 341 provided on the sub-tray 322 enters the inside.

A holding portion 343 is formed at an end of the rail 342 on theapparatus front side of the side wall 335 so as to be continuous withthe rail 342. The holding portion 343 is a recess portion formed so asto be recessed from the wall surface of the side wall 335 similarly tothe rail 342, and is inclined with respect to the rail 342.Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 14 , the holding portion 343 isformed to be bent downward from the end of the rail 342 on the apparatusfront side and to be inclined toward the apparatus rear side toward thelower side. The holding portion 343 is provided on the apparatus frontside with respect to the main body tray 321.

As will be described in detail later, the holding portion 343 is formedsuch that the projection 341 can enter by moving the projection 341 ofthe sub-tray 322 to the end on the apparatus front side of the rail 342and then being lifted the end on the apparatus front side of thesub-tray 322. Then, by pushing down the sub-tray 322 along theinclination of the holding portion 343, the projection 341 enters theholding portion 343. Since the projection 341 has a shape elongated inthe front-rear direction as described above, the side surface of theprojection 341 is engaged with the inner wall surface of the holdingportion 343, whereby the sub-tray 322 is held in the direction along theinclination direction of the holding portion 343.

Note that the rail 342 and the holding portion 343 may have aconfiguration of a separate member fixed to the side wall 335, forexample, in addition to the recess portion formed in the side wall 335as described above. Further, a configuration of the rail 342 and theholding portion 343 may be provided so as to protrude from the side wall335 so as to sandwich the projection 341 from both sides in the shortdirection. Further, the projection 341 may have, for example, acylindrical shape or a roller rotatably provided. In this case, aplurality of projections 341 are provided in the front-rear direction ofthe sub-tray 322. For example, one projection 341 is provided at each ofboth ends in the front-rear direction on one side in the width directionof the sub-tray 322, and a total of four projections 341 are provided onboth sides in the width direction.

Further, an inclined supporting portion 336 is provided below theholding portion 343 of the side wall 335 so as to protrude inward in thewidth direction. The inclined supporting portion 336 is inclined alongthe inclination of the holding portion 343, and supports the lowersurface of the sub-tray 322 of which the projection 341 is held by theholding portion 343. As a result, the sub-tray 322 is more reliably heldin the inclined state at the second position. Note that the inclinedsupporting portion 336 may be omitted as long as the sub-tray 322 can besufficiently held by the engagement between the projection 341 and theholding portion 343.

The auxiliary supporting portion 337 is provided on the apparatus frontside of the inclined supporting portion 336 of the side wall 335 so asto protrude inward in the width direction. The auxiliary supportingportion 337 is provided substantially parallel to the front-reardirection, and supports the lower surface of the portion of the sub-tray322 on the apparatus front side with respect to the rail 342 in a statewhere the projection 341 is guided by the rail 342 to assist the slidingmovement of the sub-tray 322. The end of the auxiliary supportingportion 337 on the apparatus rear side is smoothly continuous with theend of the inclined supporting portion 336 on the apparatus front side,and does not interfere with the sub-tray 322 when the sub-tray 322 isinclined by the engagement between the projection 341 and the holdingportion 343.

The abutted portion 345 is provided below the auxiliary supportingportion 337 in the side wall 335. The abutted portion 345 is provided soas to protrude inward in the width direction from the side wall 335 andto be movable in the width direction with respect to the side wall 335.The abutted portion 345 is urged inward in the width direction by anurging spring 349 (FIGS. 20 to 22 ) serving as an urging member.

The abutted portion 345 is provided at a position aligned with theextension portion 346 in a state where the sub-tray 322 is at the firstposition. Then, by the abutting portion 344 provided on the extensionportion 346 abutting on the abutted portion 345, a click feeling(response) is given to the operator at the time of the operation ofpushing the sub-tray 322 to the first position. In addition, the abuttedportion 345 enters the recess portion 346 b provided in the extensionportion 346, whereby the sub-tray 322 is locked at the first position.That is, the abutted portion 345 and the recess portion 346 b serve as alocking portion 348 (FIG. 22 ) capable of locking the sub-tray 322 tothe first position. An operation related to this point will be describedlater.

Sliding Operation of Sub-tray

Next, an operation of sliding the sub-tray 322 from the second positiontoward the first position will be described with reference to FIGS. 15to 19 . FIG. 15 illustrates a state in which the sub-tray 322 is at thesecond position. At the second position, the projection 341 of thesub-tray 322 is engaged with the holding portion 343, and the lowersurface of the sub-tray 322 is supported by the inclined supportingportion 336. When returning the sub-tray 322 to the first position,first, as illustrated in FIG. 16 , the sub-tray 322 is pulled up towardthe apparatus front side and upward, that is, obliquely upward. Then,the projection 341 comes out of the holding portion 343, and thesub-tray 322 can be pivoted in a direction in which the apparatus frontside is lowered.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 17 , the sub-tray 322 is inclined in adirection along the rail 342, in the present embodiment, in asubstantially horizontal direction. When the sub-tray 322 is pushed intothe apparatus rear side in this state, the sub-tray 322 is guided to theapparatus rear side along the rail 342 by the engagement between theprojection 341 and the rail 342 as illustrated in FIG. 18 . At thisposition, the abutting portion 344 of the sub-tray 322 does not abut onthe abutted portion 345 on the casing 330 side.

Further, when the sub-tray 322 is pushed from this position, as will bedescribed later, the abutting portion 344 abuts on the abutted portion345 to give a click feeling to the operator, and when further pushed,the abutted portion 345 enters the recess portion 346 b, and thesub-tray 322 is locked at the first position as illustrated in FIG. 19 .In this state, the sub-tray 322 is mounted at the first position. Inthis state, the auxiliary supporting portion 337 enters the recessedportion 347. A projection 337 a protruding downward is provided on thelower surface of the auxiliary supporting portion 337, and theprojection 337 a abuts on the upper surface of the extension portion 346of the sub-tray 322 or approaches the upper surface of the extensionportion 346 through a slight gap in a state where the auxiliarysupporting portion 337 enters the recessed portion 347. Such aprojection 337 a abuts on the upper surface of the extension portion 346in a state where the sub-tray 322 is located at the first position,thereby restricting the sub-tray 322 from being lifted upwardindependently from the pressure plate 303. As a result, when theoperator grips and lifts the gripping portion 323 upward, the pressureplate 303 and the ADF 310 are lifted upward together with the sub-tray322.

When the sub-tray 322 is drawn out from the first position to the secondposition, the operation opposite to the above is performed. That is,when the sub-tray 322 is pulled toward the apparatus front side bygripping the gripping portion 323 from the state of FIG. 19 , theabutting portion 344 gets over the abutted portion 345 and enters thestate illustrated in FIG. 18 . This operation also gives a click feelingto the operator. Next, the sub-tray 322 is drawn out to the apparatusfront side to be in the state of FIG. 17 . In the state of FIG. 17 , theprojection 341 comes out from the end of the rail 342 on the apparatusfront side, and the sub-tray 322 is pivotable in a direction in whichthe apparatus front side is lifted.

Next, the sub-tray 322 is inclined by lifting the apparatus front side,and the state of FIG. 16 is obtained. The state of FIG. 16 is a state inwhich the projection 341 can enter the holding portion 343. Then, bypushing down the sub-tray 322 toward the apparatus rear side anddownward, that is, obliquely downward to cause the projection 341 toenter the holding portion 343, the state of the second position asillustrated in FIG. 15 is obtained.

Operation of Pushing Sub-Tray Toward First Position

Next, the relationship between the periphery of the abutting portion 344and the abutted portion 345 at the time of the pushing operation of thesub-tray 322 described above with reference to FIGS. 18 to 19 to thefirst position on the apparatus rear side will be described withreference to FIGS. 20 to 22 . FIG. 20 illustrates the state of FIG. 18described above. In this state, the distal end of the inclined surface346 a on the distal end side (apparatus rear side) of the abuttingportion 344 abuts on the abutted portion 345.

The abutted portion 345 includes a base portion 345 a and a projection345 b protruding from the base portion 345 a, and is disposed such thatthe projection 345 b protrudes from a through-hole 335 a formed in theside wall 335 of the casing 330. The base portion 345 a is disposed inthe internal space 335 b on the outer side in the width direction of theside wall 335. An inner wall 335 c is provided in the internal space 335b of the casing 330, and an urging spring 349 is disposed between theinner wall 335 c and the base portion 345 a.

The abutted portion 345 is urged inward in the width direction, that is,in a direction in which the projection 345 b protrudes from thethrough-hole 335 a by the urging spring 349. At this time, theprojection amount of the projection 345 b is restricted by the baseportion 345 a abutting on the side wall 335. When the abutted portion345 is pushed outward in the width direction, the abutted portion 345 ismovable outward in the width direction against the urging force of theurging spring 349. The state of FIG. 20 is a state in which the baseportion 345 a abuts on the side wall 335.

When the sub-tray 322 is pushed toward the apparatus rear side from thisstate, the projection 345 b of the abutted portion 345 abuts on theinclined surface 346 a, and is pushed outward in the width directionalong the inclination of the inclined surface 346 a. Then, asillustrated in FIG. 21 , the abutting portion 344 and the abuttedportion 345 abut on each other. This position is a predeterminedposition between the first position and the second position. In thisstate, the abutted portion 345 is pressed against the urging force ofthe urging spring 349. Therefore, when the abutting portion 344 passesthrough the abutted portion 345, the resistance of the operation ofpushing the sub-tray 322 toward the apparatus rear side increases.

That is, the abutted portion 345 does not abut on the abutting portion344 in a state where the sub-tray 322 is located closer to the secondposition than the predetermined position, and abuts on the abuttingportion 344 in a state where the sub-tray 322 is located at thepredetermined position. Therefore, when the sub-tray 322 passes throughthe predetermined position, the resistance to move the sub-tray 322increases. In the present embodiment, such a change in resistance givesa click feeling to the operator.

Next, when the sub-tray 322 is further pushed toward the apparatus rearside, the projection 345 b of the abutted portion 345 gets over theabutting portion 344 and moves along the inclined surface 346 c by theurging force of the urging spring 349. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 22 ,the projection 345 b of the abutted portion 345 enters the recessportion 346 b. In this state, the sub-tray 322 is locked at the firstposition. In this state, the abutted portion 345 does not abut on theabutting portion 344, and the projection 345 b of the abutted portion345 protrudes more inward in the width direction than when it is at apredetermined position.

On the other hand, when the sub-tray 322 is drawn out from the firstposition to the second position, the sub-tray 322 is pulled toward theapparatus front side from the state of FIG. 22 . At this time, theinclined surface 346 c on the apparatus rear side of the recess portion346 b abuts on the projection 345 b of the abutted portion 345, so thatthe abutted portion 345 moves outward in the width direction against theurging force of the urging spring 349. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 21 ,the projection 345 b of the abutted portion 345 abuts on the abuttingportion 344, and the sub-tray 322 is further drawn out, so that theprojection 345 b of the abutted portion 345 gets over the abuttingportion 344 and enters the state illustrated in FIG. 20 . Since thisposition is a position corresponding to FIG. 18 described above, thesub-tray 322 is drawn out to the second position as described above withreference to FIGS. 17 to 15 .

In the present embodiment, even when the sub-tray 322 is drawn out fromthe first position, the projection 345 b of the abutted portion 345 getsover the abutting portion 344, so that a click feeling can be given tothe operator as in the case of pushing the sub-tray 322 to the firstposition. By providing the operator with a click feeling when thesub-tray 322 is attached to the first position and drawn out from thefirst position in this manner, it is easy to determine that the operatorhas performed the attaching operation and the draw-out operation withoutany problem.

In addition, since the projection 345 b of the abutted portion 345 islocked to the recess portion 346 b in a state where the sub-tray 322 isat the first position, it is possible to suppress the sub-tray 322 frombeing unintentionally drawn out from the first position. Therefore, forexample, when the operator grips the gripping portion 323 and lifts thepressure plate 303, it is also possible to suppress the sub-tray 322from being inadvertently drawn out. Therefore, when the gripping portionfor performing the operation of drawing the sub-tray 322 and thegripping portion for performing the operation of opening portion thepressure plate 303 are also used, the operability for opening thepressure plate 303 can be improved. The abutting portion 344, theabutted portion 345, and the urging spring 349 in the present embodimentare urging portions that apply an urging force (resistance force) in adirection opposite to the moving direction to the sub-tray 322 when thesub-tray 322 moves from the first position to the second position.

Configuration Related to Platen

Next, a configuration related to the platen 332 including the platenglass 302, the first positioning portion 305, and the second abutmentportion 306 will be described with reference to FIGS. 23 to 26B. Theplaten 332 is provided so as to cover the upper side of theconfiguration for driving the reading unit 301 and the reading unit 301of the image reading apparatus 300, and is provided with a platen glass302, a reading glass 333, and the like. As described above, in thepresent embodiment, the carriage motor 353, the speed reducer 353 b, andthe drive pulley 355 a for driving the reading unit 301 are collectivelyarranged in the space on the left side in the width direction withrespect to the document placing surface 302 a (see FIG. 6 ). In otherwords, the platen glass 302 and the reading glass 333 are shifted to theright side in the width direction from the apparatus center of the imagereading apparatus 300, and a space in which the carriage motor 353 andthe like are arranged is provided on the left side of the image readingapparatus 300.

Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 24 , a storage portion 332 a thatstores the carriage motor 353, the speed reducer 353 b, and the drivepulley 355 a is provided on the back side of the platen 332, and theplaten glass 302 and the reading glass 333 are provided on the rightside in the width direction (the upper left side in FIG. 24 ) of thestorage portion 332 a. The conveyance center N1 of the ADF 310 describedabove is shifted in the width direction with respect to the apparatuscenter N2 in accordance with the position of the reading glass 333 inthe width direction (see FIG. 9 ).

Next, an abutment portion against which a document placed on thedocument placing surface 302 a of the platen glass 302 is abutted willbe described. As described above, as illustrated in FIG. 23 , the firstabutment portion 305 and the second abutment portion 306 against whichthe edge portion of the document placed on the document placing surface302 a abuts are provided at the end of the platen glass 302 in order toposition the document at the reference position for reading by thereading unit 301.

The first abutment portion 305 is provided at a front end on a side farfrom the hinge 304, of a pair of ends of the document placing surface302 a in a direction (front-rear direction) orthogonal to the pivotshaft of the hinge 304 (FIG. 3 ). In the present embodiment, the hinge304 is on the apparatus rear side of the document placing surface 302 a,and the first abutment portion 305 is at an end on the apparatus frontside of the document placing surface 302 a.

The first abutment portion 305 is provided at an end of the documentplacing surface 302 a on the apparatus front side in substantiallyparallel to the width direction. Then, among the edge portions of thedocument placed on the document placing surface 302 a, a first edgeportion on the apparatus front side abuts against the first abutmentportion 305. The first edge portion of the document abuts the firstabutment portion 305 to perform positioning in the front-rear directionof the document.

The second abutment portion 306 is provided at one of a pair of ends ofthe document placing surface 302 a in a direction (width direction)parallel to the pivot shaft of the hinge 304. In the present embodiment,the second abutment portion 306 is provided at the left end of thedocument placing surface 302 a. Then, among the edge portions of thedocument placed on the document placing surface 302 a, a second edgeportion in the direction orthogonal to the first edge portion abutsagainst the second abutment portion 306. In the present embodiment, thesecond edge portion is an edge portion on the left side of the documentplaced on the document placing surface 302 a. The second edge portion ofthe document abuts against the second abutment portion 306 to performpositioning in the width direction (left-right direction) of thedocument.

As illustrated in FIGS. 23 and 25 , a document regulating portion 307 isprovided over the width direction on the apparatus rear side of thedocument placing surface 302 a. The document regulating portion 307 is awall protruding upward from the document placing surface 302 a in orderto regulate the position on the rear side of the document placed on thedocument placing surface 302 a, and indicates that the image is read inthe fixed-reading mode on the apparatus front side from this position.As described above, the reading glass 333 on which the reading unit 301is located when the feeding-reading mode is performed is provided on theapparatus rear side of the document regulating portion 307.

In the present embodiment, the maximum size of the document that can beplaced on the document placing surface 302 a and an image can be read isA5 size. This is because a document (for example, an A4 size) having asize larger than the A5 size can be conveyed by the ADF 310 and an imagecan be read in the feeding-reading mode. The fixed-reading mode isintended for documents of A5 size or smaller, and is particularlysuitable for reading an image by placing a card size such as a businesscard or a license card, which is difficult to convey by the ADF 310, onthe document placing surface 302 a.

As described above, the first positioning portion 305 for positioningthe document in the front-rear direction is provided on the apparatusfront side, but the apparatus front side is also a side on which theoperator mounts the document on the document placing surface 302 a ortakes out the document from the document placing surface 302 a.Therefore, when the first positioning portion 305 is provided in theentire width direction area of the end of the document placing surface302 a on the apparatus front side, there is a possibility that itbecomes difficult for the operator to take out the document from thedocument placing surface 302 a.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 23 , a partof the end of the document placing surface 302 a on the apparatus frontside is the first abutment portion 305, and the other portion is theinclined surface 308 on which the document is slid from the documentplacing surface 302 a to the apparatus front side so as to be easilytaken out. That is, the first abutment portion 305 is provided partiallyin the direction (width direction) parallel to the pivot shaft of thehinge 304 at the end on the side far from the hinge 304, that is, theend on the apparatus front side, of the pair of ends of the documentplacing surface 302 a. On the other hand, the inclined surface 308 isprovided at the other portion in the width direction at the end of thedocument placing surface 302 a on the apparatus front side. Further, theinclined surface 308 is inclined upward toward the side farther from thehinge 304, that is, toward the apparatus front side. The inclinedsurface 308 is disposed closer to the front side than the first abutmentportion 305 in the front-rear direction. Note that the shape of theinclined surface 308 is not limited to a flat surface, and may be acurved surface that becomes higher toward the apparatus front side.

Specifically, the first positioning portion 305 is provided in a portionfrom the left side of the center in the width direction to the left endof the document placing surface 302 a in the end of the document placingsurface 302 a on the apparatus front side. On the other hand, theinclined surface 308 is provided in a portion from the right side of thefirst positioning portion 305 to the right end of the document placingsurface 302 a. As described above, the left end of the document placingsurface 302 a is the second abutment portion 306. Therefore, thedocument is positioned in the front-rear direction and the left-rightdirection by abutting the document against the corner formed by the endon the apparatus front side of the document placing surface 302 a andthe end on the left side of the apparatus.

On the other hand, when the document is taken out from the documentplacing surface 302 a, the document positioned by the first positioningportion 305 and the second abutment portion 306 is shifted to the rightside and slid from the portion of the inclined surface 308 to theapparatus front side. As a result, the document can be smoothly takenout without interfering with the first positioning portion 305.

Here, the relationship in length in the width direction between thefirst positioning portion 305 and the second abutment portion 306 can beappropriately set, but in the present embodiment, the first positioningportion 305 is shorter than the second abutment portion 306. This isbecause, in the fixed-reading mode, a document having a small size istargeted, and positioning in the front-rear direction can besufficiently performed even if the length of the first positioningportion 305 is short. On the other hand, by increasing the length of thesecond abutment portion 306, for example, the document can be easilytaken out from the document placing surface 302 a without greatlyopening portion the pressure plate 303.

The first positioning portion 305 and the inclined surface 308 will bedescribed in more detail with reference to FIGS. 26A and 26B. FIG. 26Ais a cross-sectional view of the first positioning portion 305. Thefirst positioning portion 305 is a wall rising substantiallyperpendicularly to the document placing surface 302 a of the platenglass 302, and can abut a first edge portion of the document. The secondabutment portion 306 also has the same configuration as the firstabutment portion 305.

FIG. 26B is a cross-sectional view of the inclined surface 308. Asdescribed above, the inclined surface 308 is inclined upward toward theapparatus front side (the left side in FIG. 26B). The lowermost end 308a of the inclined surface 308 is positioned below the document placingsurface 302 a. In other words, the document placing surface 302 a, whichis the surface of the platen glass 302, is located above the lowermostend 308 a of the inclined surface 308. Accordingly, the document placedon the document placing surface 302 a can be easily taken out via theinclined surface 308.

That is, in a case where the lowermost end 308 a of the inclined surface308 is above the document placing surface 302 a, a step surface isgenerated between the document placing surface 302 a and the inclinedsurface 308, and there is a possibility that the document abuts on thestep surface when the document is slid toward the inclined surface 308and taken out. Furthermore, in a case where the lowermost end 308 a ofthe inclined surface 308 is located at the same height position as thedocument placing surface 302 a, there is a possibility that thelowermost end 308 a is located slightly above the document placingsurface 302 a due to a manufacturing error or the like, and in thiscase, the above-described step surface also occurs. If the documentabuts against the stepped surface when the document is taken out fromthe document placing surface 302 a, it becomes difficult to slide andtake out the document from the document placing surface 302 a eventhough the inclined surface 308 is provided. Therefore, in the presentembodiment, the lowermost end 308 a of the inclined surface 308 ispositioned below the document placing surface 302 a.

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the first abutmentportion 305 is provided at the end of the document placing surface 302 aon the apparatus front side, it is easy to perform the work of placingthe document on the document placing surface 302 a from the apparatusfront side and performing positioning in the front-rear direction. Inparticular, even in a case where the space above the image readingapparatus 300 is narrow and the pressure plate 303 does not openlargely, it is sufficient to butt the document against the firstabutment portion 305 on the apparatus front side, so that the documentcan be easily positioned and placed on the document placing surface 302a.

In addition, since the inclined surface 308 is provided at the end ofthe document placing surface 302 a on the apparatus front side adjacentto the first abutment portion 305, it is easy to take out the documentfrom the document placing surface 302 a. In particular, it is easy totake out the document even if the pressure plate 303 is not largelyopened. For example, it is possible to take out the document whilesliding the document toward the apparatus front side via the inclinedsurface 308 while shifting the document in the width direction to thearea where the inclined surface 308 is located.

The image forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment having theabove-described configuration has good operability even when installedin a narrow space such as under a shelf or a desk. That is, in thepresent embodiment, since the main functions of the image formingapparatus 100 can be operated from the apparatus front side, theoperability of the image forming apparatus 100 is good even in a casewhere the space above the image forming apparatus 100 is narrow or in acase where the left and right spaces of the image forming apparatus 100are narrow.

Specifically, the feeding direction of the sheet from the cassette 203in the apparatus main body 200 is from the apparatus front side to theapparatus rear side, and the discharging direction of the sheet is fromthe apparatus rear side to the apparatus front side. Further, thefeeding direction of the document from the document feed tray 320 in theimage reading apparatus 300 is from the apparatus front side to theapparatus rear side, and the discharging direction of the document isfrom the apparatus rear side to the apparatus front side. As describedabove, since the sheets and the documents of the apparatus main body 200and the image reading apparatus 300 can be fed and discharged on theapparatus front side, the sheets and the documents can be easily fed anddischarged even when the space in the horizontal direction of the imageforming apparatus 100 is narrow.

In addition, since the cassette 203 is drawn out on the apparatus frontside, the operation from the apparatus front side is also easy. Further,since the sub-tray 322 of the image reading apparatus 300 is alsoconfigured to be slidable toward the apparatus front side, the operationfrom the apparatus front side is easy. In addition, since the hinge 304for pivoting the pressure plate 303 is arranged on the apparatus rearside and the gripping portion 323 for pivoting the pressure plate 303 isarranged on the apparatus front side, the operation from the apparatusfront side is also easy. Furthermore, since the first abutment portion305 and the inclined surface 308 are on the apparatus front side, theoperation from the apparatus front side is also easy.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the gripping portion 323 fordrawing out the sub-tray 322 is also used as a portion for gripping toopen and close the pressure plate 303, and sub-tray 322 is locked by thelocking portion 348 in a state where the sub-tray 322 is stored at thefirst position. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the sub-tray 322from being unintentionally drawn out when the pressure plate 303 isopened and closed, and it is possible to improve the operability of theimage forming apparatus 100 also in this respect.

In the present embodiment, by moving the reading unit 301 in thefront-rear direction, the feeding direction and the dischargingdirection of the document by the ADF 310 can be set to the front-reardirection as described above. That is, in the case of the configurationin which the reading unit 301 is moved in the left-right direction, themain scanning direction of the reading unit 301 is the front-reardirection, and the sub-scanning direction is the left-right direction.Therefore, when the feeding-reading mode is performed using the ADF 310with such a configuration, it is necessary to convey the document in theleft-right direction. On the other hand, in the present embodiment,since the reading unit 301 is moved in the front-rear direction, theconveying direction of the document by the ADF 310 can be set to thefront-rear direction as described above, and the operability from theapparatus front side can be improved.

In the present embodiment, since the sub-tray 322 is slid to the firstposition and the second position, the sub-tray 322 can be moved to thefirst position and the second position even if there is no space abovethe image forming apparatus 100. For example, in a case of aconfiguration in which the sub-tray is pivoted to be movable to aposition where the sub-tray is stored in the casing of the image readingapparatus and a position where the sub-tray can support the documenttogether with the main body tray, a space for pivoting the sub-tray isrequired above the image forming apparatus. On the other hand, in thepresent embodiment, since the sub-tray 322 is slid and moved, thesub-tray can be moved to the first position and the second position evenif there is no space above, and operability is good even if the imageforming apparatus 100 is installed in a narrow space.

Further, the first position is a position where the sub-tray 322 coversthe upper side of the main body tray 321 in a state where the secondsupporting surface 322 a is positioned above the back surface 322 bwhich is the back surface of the second supporting surface 322 a.Therefore, in a state where the sub-tray 322 is at the first position,for example, an upper surface of the sub-tray 322 can be used as a spacefor placing a document or the like.

Second Embodiment

A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 27 to 29 .In the first embodiment described above, the document feeding directionand the document discharge direction of the ADF 310 are set to thefront-rear direction. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, thedocument feeding direction and the document discharge direction of anADF 310A as the automatic document feeding apparatus are set to theleft-right direction. Accordingly, the moving direction of the readingunit 301 (see FIG. 6 ) is also set to the left-right direction. Sinceother configurations and operations are similar to those of the firstembodiment described above, the same configurations are denoted by thesame reference numerals, description and illustration thereof areomitted or simplified, and hereinafter, differences from the firstembodiment will be mainly described.

First, an image forming apparatus 100A of the present embodimentincludes an apparatus main body 200 similar to that of the firstembodiment, and an image reading apparatus 300A is provided above theapparatus main body 200. Since the apparatus main body 200 is similar tothat of the first embodiment, the feeding direction of the sheet fromthe cassette 203 is a direction from the apparatus front side (firstside) to the apparatus rear side (second side), and the direction inwhich the sheet is discharged is a direction from the apparatus rearside to the apparatus front side.

On the other hand, the feeding direction of the document from thedocument feed tray 320A of the ADF 310A of the image reading apparatus300A is a direction from the right side (third side, one side) to theleft side (fourth side, the other side) in the width direction, and thedocument discharge direction is a direction from the left side to theright side in the width direction. Note that the document feedingdirection may be a direction from the left side to the right side, andthe document discharge direction may be a direction from the right sideto the left side.

Similarly to the first embodiment, the pressure plate 303 including theADF 310A has a hinge 304 (see FIG. 3 ) on the apparatus rear side, andis opened by being pivoted upward from the apparatus front side. Thedocument conveying configuration and the image reading configuration ofthe ADF 310A are similar to those of the first embodiment except thatthe document conveying direction is different. The moving direction ofthe reading unit 301 is the left-right direction in accordance with thedocument conveying direction of the ADF 310A.

In addition, in the case of the present embodiment, similarly to thedocument feed tray 320 of the first embodiment, the document feed tray320A that supports the document includes a main tray 321A serving as afirst supporting portion having a first supporting surface 321 a thatsupports the document, and a sub-tray 322A, serving as a secondsupporting portion and a slide supporting portion, having a secondsupporting surface 322 a that supports the document together with thefirst supporting surface 321 a. The sub-tray 322A is arranged so as tobe slidable with respect to the pressure plate 303 between a firstposition and a second position located further on one side (right sidein the present embodiment) than the first position in the widthdirection and forms a supporting surface capable of supporting thedocument at the second position.

The first position is a position where the sub-tray 322A covers theupper side of the main tray 321A in a state where the second supportingsurface 322 a is positioned above the back surface 322 b which is theback surface of the second supporting surface 322 a. That is, the firstposition is a storage position at which the sub-tray 322A is stored inthe casing 330A of the image reading apparatus 300A, and is a positionillustrated in FIG. 27 .

Similarly to the first embodiment, in the sub-tray 322A, the secondsupporting surface 322 a faces upward even in the state of being at thefirst position, and for example, the sub-tray does not pivot at the timeof storage and the back surface does not face upward. The secondsupporting surface 322 a of the sub-tray 322A constitutes an exteriorsurface of the image reading apparatus 300A in a state of being locatedat the first position. That is, the second supporting surface 322 a alsoserves as an exterior cover of the image reading apparatus 300A.

The second position is a position where the second supporting surface322 a supports the document together with the first supporting surface321 a in a state where the second supporting surface 322 a is positionedabove the back surface 322 b. That is, the second position is a positionillustrated in FIG. 28 , and is a document setting position where adocument is set. In the sub-tray 322A, the inclination angle of thesecond supporting surface 322 a with respect to the horizontal plane islarger than that of the first supporting surface 321 a in the state ofbeing at the second position.

In the present embodiment, the sub-tray 322A is positioned at the secondposition by drawing out the sub-tray 322A to one side (the right side inthe present embodiment) in the width direction from the first position.That is, the direction in which the sub-tray 322A is slid from the firstposition to the second position is a direction from the other side toone side in the width direction. When the sub-tray 322A is returned fromthe second position to the first position, the sub-tray 322 is pushed tothe other side (the left side in the present embodiment) in the widthdirection while returning the inclination of the sub-tray to the stateof being at the first position, thereby positioning the sub-tray 322A atthe first position. As illustrated in FIGS. 28 and 29 , The sub-tray322A is supported so as to be slidable between the first position andthe second position by the slide movement supporting portion 340A. Sincethe configuration of the slide movement supporting portion 340A issimilar to that of the first embodiment except for the slide direction,the description thereof will be omitted.

In addition, in the present embodiment as described above, since thesub-tray 322A is slid between the first position and the secondposition, the sub-tray can be moved between the first position and thesecond position even if there is no space above, and operability is goodeven if the image forming apparatus 100 is installed in a narrow space,as in the first embodiment. Further, the first position is a positionwhere the sub-tray 322A covers the upper side of the main tray 321A in astate where the second supporting surface 322 a is positioned above theback surface 322 b which is the back surface of the second supportingsurface 322 a. Therefore, in a state where the sub-tray 322A is at thefirst position, for example, an upper surface of the sub-tray 322A canbe used as a space for placing documents and the like.

OTHER EMBODIMENTS

The image forming apparatus of the present invention may be a copier, afacsimile machine, a multifunction peripheral, or the like, in additionto a printer. The multifunction peripheral has a plurality of functions,such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2022-079422, filed May 13, 2022, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A document feeding apparatus comprising: adocument supporting portion including a first supporting portion havinga first supporting surface configured to support a document, and asecond supporting portion having a second supporting surface configuredto support the document together with the first supporting surface andprovided so as to be slidable between a first position at which thesecond supporting portion located above the first supporting portion anda second position at which the second supporting surface supports thedocument together with the first supporting surface; and a documentfeeding portion configured to feed the document supported by thedocument supporting portion, wherein in a state where the secondsupporting portion is located at the first position, the secondsupporting surface constitutes a portion of an upper surface of thedocument feeding apparatus.
 2. The document feeding apparatus accordingto claim 1, further comprising: a document discharge portion configuredto discharge the document fed by the document feeding portion; and adocument stacking portion that is provided below the document supportingportion and on which the document discharged from the document dischargeportion is stacked, wherein the document stacking portion includes anextension stacking portion configured to be drawn out from a casing ofthe document feeding apparatus in a direction in which the secondsupporting portion slides from the first position to the secondposition.
 3. The document feeding apparatus according to claim 1,further comprising a slide movement supporting portion slidablysupporting the second supporting portion, the slide movement supportingportion including a first engagement portion provided at both ends ofthe second supporting portion with respect to a width directionorthogonal to a direction in which the document feeding portion feedsthe document, and a second engagement portion provided in a casing ofthe document feeding apparatus and engageable with the first engagementportion.
 4. The document feeding apparatus according to claim 3, whereinthe first engagement portion is a projection protruding toward thesecond engagement portion, and the second engagement portion is a recessthat is engaged with the projection to slidably guide the secondsupporting portion.
 5. The document feeding apparatus according to claim4, wherein the second supporting surface of the second supportingportion is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane at the secondposition as compared with a state at the first position, and the slidemovement supporting portion includes a holding portion configured tohold the second supporting portion in an inclined state at the secondposition.
 6. The document feeding apparatus according to claim 1,further comprising an urging portion configured to apply an urging forceto the second supporting portion in a direction opposite to a movingdirection in a case where the second supporting portion moves from thefirst position to the second position.
 7. The document feeding apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein the urging portion includes an abuttingportion provided on one of a casing of the document feeding apparatusand the second supporting portion; and an abutted portion provided onthe other of the casing of the document feeding apparatus and the secondsupporting portion, abutting on the abutting portion in a state wherethe second supporting portion is located at a predetermined positionbetween the first position and the second position, and not abutting onthe abutting portion in a state where the second supporting portion islocated closer to the second position than the predetermined position.8. The document feeding apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theabutted portion does not abut on the abutting portion in a state wherethe second supporting portion is located at the first position.
 9. Thedocument feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising anoperation unit configured to receive an operation by an operator,wherein the document feeding portion feeds a document in a directionfrom an apparatus front side, which is a front side of the documentfeeding apparatus provided with the operation unit, toward an apparatusrear side, which is a rear side of the document feeding apparatus, and adirection in which the second supporting portion slides from the firstposition to the second position is a direction from the apparatus rearside toward the apparatus front side.
 10. An image reading apparatuscomprising: a document supporting portion including a first supportingportion having a first supporting surface configured to support adocument, and a second supporting portion having a second supportingsurface configured to support the document together with the firstsupporting surface and provided so as to be slidable between a firstposition at which the second supporting portion located above the firstsupporting portion and a second position at which the second supportingsurface supports the document together with the first supportingsurface; a document feeding portion configured to feed a documentsupported by the document supporting portion; and an image reading unitconfigured to read an image on a document fed by the document feedingportion, wherein in a state where the second supporting portion islocated at the first position, the second supporting surface constitutesa portion of an upper surface of the image reading apparatus.
 11. Animage forming apparatus comprising: a document supporting portionincluding a first supporting portion having a first supporting surfaceconfigured to support a document, and a second supporting portion havinga second supporting surface configured to support the document togetherwith the first supporting surface and provided so as to be slidablebetween a first position at which the second supporting portion locatedabove the first supporting portion and a second position at which thesecond supporting surface supports the document together with the firstsupporting surface; a document feeding portion configured to feed adocument supported by the document supporting portion; an image readingunit configured to read an image on a document fed by the documentfeeding portion; and an image forming unit configured to form an imageon a sheet based on the image on the document read by the image readingunit, wherein in a state where the second supporting portion is locatedat the first position, the second supporting surface constitutes aportion of an upper surface of the image forming apparatus.
 12. Theimage forming apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising asheet discharge portion configured to discharge a sheet on which animage is formed by the image forming unit in a sheet discharge directionfrom an apparatus rear side toward an apparatus front side, wherein adirection in which the second supporting portion slides from the firstposition to the second position is a direction from the apparatus rearside toward the apparatus front side.
 13. The image forming apparatusaccording to claim 11, further comprising a sheet discharge portionconfigured to discharge a sheet on which an image is formed by the imageforming unit in a sheet discharge direction from an apparatus rear sidetoward an apparatus front side, wherein a direction in which the secondsupporting portion slides from the first position to the second positionis a left-right direction orthogonal to a direction from the apparatusrear side toward the apparatus front side.